Artificial class names mean
nothing to evolution. It would be a crime to cut off the posterity of a
desirable member of society merely because he happened to have been
popularly stigmatized by some class name that carried opprobrium with
it. Similarly it would be immoral to encourage or permit the
reproduction of a manifestly defective member of society of the kinds
indicated, even though that individual might in some way have secured
the protection of a class name that was generally considered desirable.
Bearing this in mind, we believe no one can object to a proposal to
prevent the reproduction of those feeble-minded, insane, epileptic,
grossly defective or hopelessly delinquent people, whose condition can
be proved to be due to heredity and is therefore probably transmissible
to their offspring. We can imagine only one objection that might be
opposed to all the advantages of such a program--namely, that no proper
means can be found for putting it into effect. This objection is
occasionally urged, but we believe it to be wholly without weight. We
now propose to examine the various possible methods of restrictive
eugenics, and to inquire which of them society can most profitably
adopt.
CHAPTER X
METHODS OF RESTRICTION
The means of restriction can be divided into coercive and non-coercive.
Pages:
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308